Crawl out
by Aliniel
Summary: This is a post-apocalyptic AU where the Search Party had grown in an underground village. Due to recent incidents, they have to abandond the security of their homes and face the dangers of the surface. But is it how they thought it was going to be? This is inspired by TTGL.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hi everyone. This is my new project for Elsword fic. I was originally planning a modern AU fic, but then I had this idea. I hope you like it, maybe some of you will realize that this fic is inspired by some elements from TTGL :D**_

* * *

The lower mine levels were as busy as every day. Aisha tapped the ground impatiently as she waited for the twentieth convoy to get out of the rails. Around her, a group of miners readying themselves to replace the morning shifters. The lights on the minecart were finally visible, as the slowly and heavy machine moved out of the way, screeching over the metallic rails on their way to the higher level. Aisha sighed and made her way into the tunnel. Not many people would hang out there, as only workers would be willing to come down here. While every miner that was with her eventually separated from the group to disappear into one of the side entrances of this long cavern, Aisha kept walking to the deepest part. The small lights barely managed to keep her path lighted up, and she couldn't hear the sounds of pickaxes breaking down stone anymore.

"Angkor, come," She chanted to herself. A purple flash appeared, materializing a small fat bat in front of her. The small creature flew around her in silence. Slowly, her vision got better, as the shadows and darkness in her eyes were replaced by a purplish vision of the terrain. The bat finally stopped its fly and land on her shoulder. It scanned his servant.

"Aisha, dear, I think those clothes aren't what we agreed on…" The small creature protested with a grim on its cartoony face. Aisha rolled her eyes, pushing the bat off her shoulders.

"I can't come down here wearing your stupid designs," She protested. In order to get down to the mines, she had to wear a complete protection suit. A full leather suit that hugs to her body completed with additional iron plating on her shoulders, waist, abdomen and any other fragile part. The suit even included a hood and a filter mask that she left hanging on her neck. The outfit was actually really inconvenient for her. She wasn't used to move in this kind of armor. And every step seemed overly heavy for her to the point that she was worried about falling over and not being able to get up. Not to mention how tiring it was, but there was no other choice. After all, it was better than getting hurt down there.

Something appeared on her purple vision. The red silhouette of two people, with a pale one next to them. She hurried her pace, finally being able to see the entrance to the side cavern. One of the silhouettes came out, carrying a large lantern with her. She held it high and was surprised from seeing the dark mage standing there.

"Aisha! You made it here, come over,"

Aisha waved and made her way to the entrance. The woman waving at her was no other than Elesis. She was wearing a similar attire, with the addition of two large protection glasses that were covered in some kind of black and blue sticky fluid, as well as her clothes and her sword. Hearing his sister calling for Aisha, Elsword was the next one poke out of the mine, followed by Raven. All of them wearing the same protection suit. They nodded at her, and quickly turned around to help the other people in there to drag something out.

"So, what the matter? I hope you didn't make me come down here for tea," Aisha questioned. Elesis gave her a smile as she gestured for the others to bring whatever they were carrying. Aisha squinted and was able to see a minecart with something covered in a white sheet. When the thing was finally in front of her, Elesis removed the covers.

It was a dead creature. It looked like a snake, but with legs and arms, and an overdeveloped superior body. It was jet black, with blue and orange stripes around its head, which lacked any kind of eyes. It was covered in its own blood, and some of the injuries allowed to see its grotesque insides.

"A class-E?" Aisha questioned, looking at Elesis.

"A bunch of them. The miners broke one of the walls and they suddenly came out of it. There had been some injured, but no loses," Elesis explained. The rest of the people there covered the monster again and dragged it out of the tunnel.

"I thought you got these tunnels covered," Elsword said, looking at Aisha. She eyed the creature for the last time before they disappeared in the dark tunnel. "These demons are quite hard to get rid of it, you know,"

"I scouted this area just yesterday, and everything was fine…" Aisha excused herself. She nervously walked inside the cavern, watching every wall now. Elesis moved next to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder "Don't sweat it sweetie, we know these monsters don't play fair after all."

Aisha concentrated. Her normal vision blurred as everything around her turned purple. The silhouettes of her friends and the rest of the people there appeared in a cast of different colors. All of them representing the aspect of the El they were attuned with. She couldn't sense anything out of the normal, thought.

"Let's head back, we cleared the place, time to call the miners back," Raven said, ordering everyone to follow him.

Aisha sighed, she exchanged a worried look with her bat master. The petit angkor did nothing more return it. He was probably as surprised as she was.

"But to be honest, if even you can't detect those guys…" Elsword said, already on their way back. His words raised some worried looks towards him first and, then, over Aisha. Elesis quickly gestured for her brother to shut up.

The light on the tunnel was bright again, and they could put off their lanterns. The familiar sounds of pickaxes and miners working returned. They eased up, as if they had arrived home from a very long journey. A minecart was trying to make their way out of the mines again, and they lined up behind it. It was filled mostly with rocks, although some small pockets of iron were visible on them. The miners would have been pretty lucky if they managed to mine some usable El shard, but there hadn't been any luck this week yet.

When they finally moved through the narrow exit of the mines, they were welcomed by another line. This time of people wanting to get in. On the side of the line was a familiar blonde boy.

"Hey Chung!" Elsword greeted, walking over him. Chung was standing in front of the line, holding a carpet with a list of names on it and resting his back on a huge cannon. A metallic barrel taller than him with both ends opened. On one tip was attached a golden blade, while the other side had a caution coloring all around the hole. It was covered in tubes and gears that went from one end to the other, allowing the autoloading system and the energy output to work. While the main power of the cannon was Chung's own El energy, the steam generated from it was used to make every tiny piece move as well. This machine was made exclusively for him since only Chung was able to carry such a thing on his back. He looked at him and quickly browsed their names in the list.

"Elsword and… Elesis…" Chung mumbled as he started writing on the list "and Aisha… Good, I see you all made it back."

"Pff… of course," Elsword added, with an arrogant gesture. He threw his arms over his friend's shoulders and shook him in place. Chung forced a smile as he tried to keep his papers and cannon in place, asking his friend to stop "How were things here?"

"Pretty normal. Excluding that outbreak you just took care off, nothing new happened. By the way, the elders are looking for you, Aisha."

Aisha gulped. They probably wanted to chew her for allowing this to happen. To be honest, it wasn't fair. She was the one always getting reprimanded for things like that, when everyone else in the magic spire would get away with just a warning.

"Come on Aisha, I'll go with you if you want," Elesis said, reading her worried expression.

"It's not that. These guys always blame me for everything, but I'm the only one that also get things done!" Aisha protested. She really felt like ditching the elders and going back to her room.

"Well, you're the only one capable of doing this stuff. The other apprentices are a bit… lost." Elesis said, she added some soft pats on the mage back as a consolation.

She walked followed by the redheaded girl. The air finally feeling a lot lighter as they got away from the mines. They arrived at two huge metallic doors. They weren't open, people was getting in and out through a smaller door installed on one of the large gates. A man dressed in black there looked at them and stamped a seal on his papers once they went out.

They were blinded by the natural light, way stronger than the mine lanterns. Once they eyes got adapted, they finally were able to see again. Aisha stared at the large spire, erecting in the center of the village.

"Humm… I have to stop by my room to get changed, otherwise this little bastard won't leave me alone," Aisha excused herself, grabbing Angkor and prompting him to disappear again. Villagers sure didn't like the small familiar even one bit.

"That's fine. I'll wait for you at the top," Elesis said, leaving her there. Aisha sighed. She ended up going all the way into the mines for nothing. Maybe if she didn't had to waste so many time getting into this armor she would have arrived in time to fight the demons. She shook her head and slowly made her way to the spire.

The village was bustling as usual. While not many people lived here, they had adapted the space for every of their needs. The place was built centuries ago, as a refuge during the great war. It was half a kilometer underground and originally it was designed to keep a large population for about a month. However, they had slowly adapted it to be their permanent home over the course of the years.

The village was organized in rings around the large spire that went from the bottom rings to the top roof. It was a formidable contraption and the only thing that remained in one piece from the original design. A concrete pillar made to allocate as many people as possible. However now it was the living quarters of the noble and of those who posses magic abilities. The spire was originally buried, but the villagers dug their way into the dirt around it, until it finally became an exposed pillar that worked as the center of the village. Around it were the rings were the majority of the people lived.

On the bottom lower rings, right next to the mines' entrances, is where the mine workers live. They are also considered the poorest people on the village. Their houses are really small, and are made of byproducts from the metal factories. They are horribly hot in summer and freezing cold in winter. But it was the best thing they could pay with their miner salary.

The middle rings were the home of the maintenance workers. Mostly engineers, but also guardians like Elesis or her other friends lived there. It was also the place were most of the shop and people would be around during the day. While these people wasn't considered poor, their houses weren't much better than those of the miners.

Finally, the top rings were reserved for farms. Being the nearest to the roof, it was the best part to cultivate plants. There is a complicated mirror system that brings sunlight from the surface into the village that the farmers have learned to adapt to cultivate plants. It wasn't perfect thought, and most harvests were barely enough to last for the year. Even thought, they were owned by the nobles, and workers from all the areas had to help in their harvest. It wasn't the only food source they managed to bring down earth though. One of the mines they excavated had a huge underground river that was full with cave fishes and other creatures as well as the many animals they keep with them. From cows to pork, they have just enough food to avoid starving to death in this hole.

Aisha, walked through the lower rings, arriving at a bridge that connected with the spire. On her way there, she saw a group of kids look at her and immediately run away, hiding into their homes. She sighed as she made her way through the precary stone the spire, she walked into the elevators room. It was as filled with people as ever. Which would be troublesome if it weren't for the villagers stepping out of the elevator as she walked in. Everyone looked at her with concern. She paid them no mind.

It wasn't anything new. Despite how important was her work for everyone, they would always be wary of her powers nature. And the clothes she had to wear by contract didn't help either. Everyone who wouldn't think of her as some evil witch or even a demon, would think she some crazy deviant or exhibitionist. Something more or less understandable considering the outrageous design of her _void princess_ outfit, as Angkor calls it.

The elevator started rumbling. It's large gears slowly began rotating as the doors closed. The structure started to climb through the many floors. Most of the spire's lower levels were dedicated to simple traveling. Her elevator didn't stop until the upper levels.

This area didn't change at all during the years. The concrete walls were covered in carpets and blinds to make it a nicer place, but you could still see big black number written on them, naming the different sections of the original refuge. The place has been slightly modified to accommodate the _magic users_. Unlike the workers or the noble, people that shows ability for magic is taken into the spire to live and study there. Although the ability to control the elements, like Elsword or Elesis' abilities to wield fire, are pretty common, the power to create and cast spells is a rare thing in the village.

Aisha walked through the floor. Most rooms were filled to the brim with bookcases, having the only books remaining from the surface in them. Long tables and no windows provided the mages with the relaxed ambient they so much needed. She head straight for her dependencies. Inside, she found her other clothes waiting in her bed. Wearing the leather armor was a problem, but these weren't any better. As part of her contract with Angkor, Aisha was made to wear clothes made by the demon all the time. The problem was that her arms and legs were more covered than the rest of her body.

The demon's choice of preference was nothing more than a light purple mini skirt with a black bra, combined with a collar that was tied to her sleeves and purple tights with garter belts. Everything of it was even shorter than its own description.

She looked at the mirror and sighed, arranging her hair into two messy pigtails. There was a time were she would need an hour to mentally prepare to head out like this, luckily she was used to it by now, although she kind of missed those times. And everyone else in the spire was used to that as well, which didn't meant that she wouldn't have to endure the disapproving looks and comments of her elders and the lascivious stares of the younger members. There was no helping it, as Angkor wouldn't give its incredible powers to her otherwise.

She finally arrived at the top floor of the spire. The place were the elders decide on the future of the village. Only the noble and those that the elders call are allowed to enter. She found Elesis standing by the entrance with an annoyed look. Already knowing why, Aisha greeted her again this day.

"They say I can't go with you over this point." She said with a pouting face.

"Yeah, I should have expected it. Anyways, I'll be fine, you can go home and rest, really," Aisha said, walking past her. Elesis would definitely wait for her there, but it wasn't bad either. Aisha felt like going out for some drinks today. She just hoped that the elders don't take many time from her.

* * *

Elesis dozed off. She slowly slid down the wall she was leaning on until sitting in a sleepy position. She was shifting into consciousness and dream when someone kicked her foot.

"Wake up, you'll catch a cold."

Elesis open her eyes to a smiling Aisha. It took her a moment to process what was going on before she got back to her feet on a single jump.

"Sorry! I guess I was a bit tired after all," She apologized. Elesis scanned Aisha's face, trying to guess how did it go, and was surprised to see her… not annoyed. Aisha looked worried. Leaving her cheery smile aside, Elesis felt something bugging her "What's wrong Aish? What did the elders say?"

"Well… I'll better explain it when we are all together… it concerns us all," Aisha answered, already walking down the hall. There was no need for explanation, as it was already a tradition to head to the middle rings for a drink once a day of hard work was over.

The middle rings were an extremely uneven place. Unlike the monotonous poor houses of the lower levels, in the middle it was common to see big family houses right next to small individual huts, all of them made of the same recycled metallic material, although some of them had the luxury of using concrete on some of their walls. Nothing related to the large houses on the top rings, made of wood; but still way better than the lower levels.

It was almost nighttime and the middle rings were bustling with activity. People coming from all levels to get their hands on the freshly catched fish, the still warm milk or just for some fun. It was the only place in the entire village were you could go to a bar, excluding the VIP ones on the top levels, of course.

The place they used to visit was near the outer walls. It was a small place, and most of the guest were members of the city guard or the mine security and stuff. The few people that didn't judge Aisha for her powers. The place had few tables and a lot of empty space. If you're lucky you may get to sit and drink, and if not, you'll have to hold your beer while standing in the middle of a rickety hut. The serving bar occupied half of the entire place. An old looking man would always be sitting at the other side of it, with two huge barrels behind him that contained the only two items that the bar had: root beer and bog water. He had been the owner of the place for years now and nobody really knew much about him. He barely speaks, some miners even say he lost his tongue on the mine. What everyone knows about him, is that he has the biggest eyebrows in the entire village. Enough to cover his eyes and half of his cheeks. It was as if he was trying to compensate his balding.

Root beer was made with the roots from the plants on the upper levels. They are cheap, as the roots are discarded as junk once the plant is harvested. Bog water wasn't actually bog water, it was actually water filtered through the minerals in the mine. Although it has no alcohol, the chemicals some of the minerals release through water oxidation are poisonous enough to give the consumer some strong hallucinations. Although it was obviously bad for your health, it was still pretty popular among the younger workers.

As Aisha arrived, followed by Elesis, she found Elsword and Chung already waiting at the entrance. Raven was inside, keeping a table for the group.

"Five root bears, old man!" Elsword requested as they walked in. It was a bit early so there wasn't many people in here. A group of miners in one table and the morning shifters from the security stuff playing darts in a corner. Once everyone had their seat and drink, Aisha finally decided to tell them about the elders.

"So, they didn't call me because I messed up or anything. The truth is something way different," She started to explain. They were listening, finding the cautious way in which Aisha looked around before continuing rather intriguing "I have been selected to lead a special scouting party,"

Since she was whispering, everyone thought they heard her wrong.

"But… aren't you always on the scouting party?" Elsword questioned, feeling a bit confused.

"Yeah, that's why they chose me. But, I'm not going to the mines…"

"To where, then?" Raven barked in, rather tired of her delaying.

Aisha didn't said anything, she just pointed a finger upwards. Raven rolled his eyes as he asked in a bored tone.

"To the higher rings?"

Aisha shook her head. She looked around once again to make sure they were alone and simply said: "To the surface"

This time they were sure they heard her right. But they still had trouble to believe it. The team fell silent. It took them an entire five minute break to digest the information.

"But, nobody has been in the surface since…" Elsword started to say, trying to remember that number from school.

"More than two centuries," Aisha clarified.

As the team went silent again, Aisha felt her chance to explained.

"So, you know what happened to mine E-5 right?" She started to say. Everyone looked at Raven who instinctively touched the stump of his left arm.

"Yeah, the mines were supposed to be safe, but someone broke a wall that let a lot of water in, damaging the foundations and bringing the entire mine down. I was lucky to escape but… well, you know the rest," Raven explained. Aisha placed her hand on his shoulder before proceeding.

"Mine E-5 is unusable. Mines E-1 to E-4 are depleted, and mine E-6 had been sealed due to excessive demon activity. Which leads us with mines E-7 which is almost depleted and mine E-8."

"Do you mean that the old men are afraid we might ran out of minerals?" Elsword asked, downing his second beer.

"Not only that. What happened this morning with the demons wasn't an isolated case. It happened in E-7 many times this week. It seems like we are getting close to a demon nest."

"But, what does that have to do with you scouting?" Elesis said, interrupting everyone else. Aisha took a deep breath. When the elders told her about this, she wasn't able to believe them in the slightest, and now she knew her friends would be the same.

"We have a map of the surface that leads to another refuge like this. A new one, with resources untouched. The elders want me to scout and see if we can move into the new refuge."

Silence again. She didn't knew if they believed her or if they were thinking that the elders went nuts.

"But I thought the surface was just a barren wasteland," Chung finally said.

"That's why we had to scout first," Aisha said. She finished her beer and finally added the most important part "The elders told me I could take some voluntaries with me… I was kind of hoping you would come with me…"

"Wait, are you implying that you accepted to go?" Chung questioned feeling alarmed. A feeling that only got reinforced by the confused nod of her friend "But it's impossible to survive on the surface. I've heard that the air there is poisonous, that the water is acid and that is full of vengeful demons,"

"We won't know until we see it ourselves," Aisha answered "Look Chung. I'm tired of this place. Everyone rejects me even when they had no other choice than to rely on me. To be honest, at first I thought this was some kind of trap to get rid of me, but now that I think about it… This looks like a nice chance. I mean, the surface hadn't been visited in centuries. Who knows how is it now. We were born in this hole, and we will die here if we back out now!"

"I'll go with you," Elesis suddenly said, a confident look burned in her eyes "I know you'll get in trouble if you go on your own," Aisha looked at her with happy eyes, although she would have preferred if Elesis hadn't said that last part.

"If sis goes I guess I'll go too. It's better than staying at home alone," Elsword added. He may try to hide it but the truth is that he can't wait to see the surface. They barely knew anything about it. The only information they ever had was the old books from the great war. A sky that covers the entire land, a sea so big you can't see the other end, huge forest of tall trees...

"I want to go too. I need a rest from all that mining operations going wrong…" Raven added.

They all stared at Chung now, waiting for him to decide.

"I'm sorry guys, they need me here to defend the village…" Chung excused himself.

"Well, make sure this place is in one piece for when we come back then," Elsword said all of the sudden.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A new update. I haven't decided yet which one of the three fics is going to be completed first though.**_

_**Also a big thanks to Akina and Exian for helping me edit this chapter :3**_

* * *

The highest level of the refuge which was above the highest rings. To reach this place, you would have had to go through the main building's maintenance rooms. It was a small space between the roof of the refuge and the earth above. Also, a really important place.

"What are those things?"

Elsword just managed to catch up with the group. He was asked to carry the most luggage of them all, since he was always bragging about being the strongest. A claim that Elesis could easily prove wrong in an arm wrestling competition. Everyone carried their own bag, loaded to the brim with food, clothes, first aid kits and their personal belonging. Aisha made sure to bring her spell components: a bunch of animal parts, colorful powders and rare herbs that she uses for particular spells. Raven brought his tools along, as well as camping gear. Something he barely used, only for those days when the shifts in the mines went for more than a day. Elesis and Elsword decided to carry their extra swords, just in case. An interesting collection of rune enchanted blades. Bedrolls were rolled and attached to the top of their bags. Many casseroles were strapped to the sides, covered in thin leather pieces to keep them from clashing into each other and making a ruckus.

On top of the main refuge of the building were four huge pillars. They sunk into the maintenance halls bellow and went higher than what they could see, above the floors over them into a vertiginous height they could not guess the full extent of. The pillars were made of some kind of glass-like material. Although they looked like pillars, they were a spiraling mess of tubes and mirrors.

"It's an ancient machine, right?" Elesis asked Aisha. The mage was busy checking her notes. Of all the things she brought on her back, Aisha did not have room for a thick book, so she had to strap it to her belt, which was actually useful, since she would be often checking it.

"Oh, that's… Yeah, an ancient machine. The Nasods built it when this refuge was created. I think it was called... " She searched through the pages and finally stopped, looking at a pencil drawing of a similar kind of machine. "Underground Vital Support… a machine that filters and purifies air from the surface as well as sunlight…"

"So it's like one of those things you put on your mouth to breath while diving?" Elsword summarized. Aisha nodded at him, putting her book back in her belt.

"It actually does more than that. The mirrors on the glass tubes bring sunlight from the surface, emulating the cycle of night and day. And the air purifier also has a humidity control that allows us to condensate water from it and-"

"Yeah, yeah. The machine is amazing. Now then, shall we get moving?" Raven interrupted. Aisha nodded. She walked between the four pillars, where a large shaft extended into the ground above.

A control panel covered in dust was waiting to be activated. But no matter how many buttons Aisha pressed, it didn't do anything. She spent a good five minutes randomly pressing buttons until she finally turned to the team.

"The elevator is broken… I think,"

"Oh, guess we're not going to the surface…" Elsword groaned, already looking at the way they came from.

"Oh, don't worry about that, it just means we have to go up on our own… Raven, can you open it?"

Raven put his backpack down and pulled a crowbar out of it. With his one arm, he forced the heavy doors on the elevator shaft open. They rusty, dusty doors creaked and shrieked as they opened. The doors revealed a small chamber that would serve as the elevator. Although it had its lights on, it would not move, even when activated from the panel inside. Aisha left it and started pushing the top of the chamber until she finally found the maintenance access. It was a trapdoor on top of the elevator that allowed them to climb on top. Looking up, they saw a tunnel as long as their sights reached, with a fragile looking ladder on one of its sides.

"So… we are looking at a half kilometer climb right there…" Elesis stated, checking the ladder's sturdiness with a heavy pat. Dust and dirt fell from it.

"Well… We're not backing away now, are we?" Aisha said, trying to brighten up the mood.

* * *

The lower rings were as busy as ever. Chung walked to his post as he did every morning, carrying his steam cannon with him as he yawned. He had gotten up really early to send off his friends and was not able to go back to sleep after. Today was an unusual day in the mines. Since part of the security forces were out scouting, and the other part were still recovering from the last incident, his group was ordered to go down to the deep levels.

Chung did not like it. He had to do it in the past many times. The narrow and small corridors in the deep levels were not really suited for his cannon, and it was the most common place for a demon attack.

"Seiker… Seiker!" An officer shouted at him. Chung was distracted from looking at the first group of miners walking into the mines and wandered off from the team. He ran towards his officer, only to be greeted with a tired and annoyed face. "Don't get distracted. I'm sending you with team A. The scouts scanned the area already, they say there's E to D threats…"

E to D, it was the most common case. Class E and Class D demons, the lowest and allegedly the weakest demons they could encounter. Class E demons were small dog-like creatures that only posed a threat in large quantities. They lacked any kind of intelligence and were fueled by primal instincts. Class D demons were intelligent, but they were not strong enough to be more than cannon fodder to an armed soldier. Their heads lacked any eyes and were shaped in a fish-like form. Class D demons had adapted to living underground in the permanent dark, which allowed them to move freely through the mine's walls and attack unprotected workers.

Although they referred to them as demons, they had little to do with the creatures that once sieged humanity. These creatures were the result of the _demon corruption_, a sickness caused by the blood of killed demons. If it infects any lifeform, it will mutate them into a horrendous creature. When the humans went into the refuges to survive, so did these aberrations, chasing them as humans are they primary food source.

Above Class D were the classified C. These were the same height as those from class D, and their shape greatly resembled that of a human. Said to be humans corrupted by demon blood, these monsters were intelligent enough to use weapons or magic. They were the main threat they had to face on the mines. Normally, they would send the lower ranking demons to gather food for them, but if they had no success, Class C demons would not hesitate to hunt for themselves.

Demons lived in what they called demon nests. They were high concentrated pockets of demon blood from the great war era. That fluid was so vile that it did not go away with time. It had to be vaporized with fire. The security staff and scouting teams had to learn it the hard way, when the remains of slain demons started to make the mines a much more dangerous place. Demon nests usually contained one Class B demon. This classification was reserved to large beasts whose main purpose was reproduction. They usually looked like a shapeless monster. Fed by all of its offspring, this horrendous creature used the demon blood to create more of these evil creatures. While they seemed to lack intelligence, they were huge and incredibly strong. A single one of them could easily wipe out the entire refuge. They had only encountered once this creature in the mines, and they were forced to blow the entire place up to get rid of it.

And finally were the legendary Class A demons. They never saw one, but there was proof of their existence in the books of the refuge. They were incredibly strong, capable of fighting with both magic and their physical strength. However, due to the lack of actual proof of their existence, not much more was known about them.

"Should we look for them?" Chung asked.

"No, the walls are still not safe to blow up. We'll have to keep an eye out. I know that the scouts are reliable, but I wouldn't be surprised if something else shows up today. Those bastards may already know about our recent lack of manpower."

While Aisha's mission was not announced to the public, rumors about people going outside the refuge already spread through the rings. While it was only a theory, there were some who believed that demons could shape themselves as humans to spy on them, which was why the officials were on the edge today.

However, as dangerous or exciting it may sound, patrolling the mines was one of the most boring jobs. Unlike patrolling the streets, the sound of pickaxe breaking stone was the only thing heard down here. The low lighting was enough to create a headache as their eyes gradually got used to the darkness for long hours, and the smell of thick dust in the air did not help.

* * *

They had been climbing the ladder for almost half an hour now. Time seemed to flow slower as they felt a burning pain over their arms. There was absolute silence in the maintenance shaft, only interrupted by the sound of steps over metal. Finally, looking up, Aisha began to see the silhouette of a metallic platform appearing from the shadows.

"Guys, we're almost there," She announced, hurrying up the last few steps until she finally landed on the platform. She let herself fall on the ground, gasping for air and stretching her arms.

"That was one hell of a climb," Elsword added, dropping himself next to her. Elesis and Raven followed suit.

The metallic platform seemed to be there to allow reparations on the elevator. It spiraled through the few meters of shaft left, were two heavy metallic doors separated the elevator shaft from the room on the other side. By the looks of it, they had never been opened for hundreds of years, and they seemed way heavier than the ones below.

"I don't think I can open that…" Raven said, approaching the gates. Elesis examined them and looked at Aisha, hoping that the mage would be able to get them through.

"Wait, I have something for this," Aisha inspected the surroundings of the door until she finally found a small control panel buried below a thick layer of dust. She did her best to clean it. The panel didn't have any button. It was a glass window with some gears and a small glass ball on the other side. "Hold on…"

Aisha searched through her book. She finally stopped at a page with some indecipherable drawings on it. Many lines formed straight figures with others crossing along it. Squares, triangles, and other simple shapes were drawn one on top of each other. Not sure of what she was doing, Aisha cleaned the glass surface and held her book open in front of it.

For a moment, nothing happened. The rest of the team looked at her, wondering what the hell was she doing. Finally, the glass ball inside the panel came to life. A red dot of light was projected by it, flashing and darting from one side to the other of the drawing. When it finally turned out, the doors creaked as life came back to them. They slowly started to move aside, revealing a huge room on the other side.

"This is… the waiting room. Which means that..." Aisha said, stepping into the large square room. Lights started to turn on the moment the door was opened. It was an empty space designed to hold a large group of people waiting to be taken into the refuge. Aisha separated from the group, heading straight to the other end of the room. Another gate awaited there. This one was way bigger. It reached from one side of the wall to the other, with a small panel in front of it, similar to the one they just used.

"The surface is on the other side…"

* * *

"Hey! Stop that person!"

Chung started running like a bullet after hearing his officer's order. He did not see what had happened, but he could clearly see a hooded figure running away through the mass of market clients. It was too early in the morning for thieves to start showing up. There were dozens if not hundreds of people on the street. He could barely manage to squeeze between them, trying his best to not knock someone out with his cannon. The hooded figure saw Chung from the corner of their eye and made their way into the side street.

The lower ring market was chaotic at this time of day. The goods from the underwater caves arrived fresh, and many people wanted to get their hands on the pricey fish. On top of that, there were many miners going to and from the mines, pulling heavy minecarts in front of them. The entire market was built around the mines' rails. It was originally a bunch of food stalls put there to sell lunch to the miners, but it slowly developed into a large market with not only food, but also some low-quality cosmetics and other crafts as well. All the goods that were not fancy enough to be sold on the higher rings could be found here.

"Stop right there!" Chung shouted, following the robber into a dark alley. They knocked down trash cans as they ran, spilling all kinds of garbage on the ground. Chung could easily jump over them, even with his huge cannon swaying on his back. As both of them took a turn around a corner, they saw a metal fence blocking the way. Chung smiled, seeing the thief's path was blocked, but he was surprised when the hooded person leaped over the wall. With quick movements, they jumped back as soon as their feet touched the wall. Doing a somersault, the robber reached from one wall to the opposite ledge, grabbing the gutter and helping themselves to the roof of the building.

Chung erased his amazed expression as he grabbed his cannon and prepared a shot downwards. He pulled the large lever on its side. The gears and bellows of the cannon came to life. Water started to flow across the firing mechanism into the detonation chamber. Lights were turned on the side of the cannon as a huge steam blast was released on the lower end, propelling Chung in the air towards the roof.

The robber, who was looking at him from up there, stumbled and fell on their back, surprised by the feat that Chung had done. He quickly spun the cannon in place, pointing the firing end to the thief.

"Don't move, or I'll shoot you down!"

Far from staying still, the thief rolled on their back and threw behind them a small device. To Chung's surprise, it exploded, creating a blinding flash. Although he shielded himself in time with the cannon, the light was able to distract Chung long enough for the thief to make a run for the next building. Chung was quick to resume the chase. The hooded figure was fast and easily weaved its way across the fragile uralite roofs. However, Chung knew this place way better. He already predicted where the robber was heading into. Taking a detour, Chung jumped across many alleys until he ended up going through a window. It led into the second floor of a grain shop. Climbing the stairs, he exited through the roof on the third floor, getting a birds-eye view of the area. He saw the robber going right towards the route that passed right below him. It seemed that they didn't realize that Chung stopped running behind them, for they were in the same hurry as they were just a moment ago.

He waited for the robber to pass right below him before finally jumping off the roof.

"Above you!" Chung shouted, making the hooded figure stop right in place to be slammed by him. The uralite roof broke beneath them, and they both fell inside what luckily was a clothing store. A huge pile of cloth stopped their fall. Chung make sure to grab the thief, but his hand only managed to grasp his hood. Quickly struggling, the thief was able to remove the hood and get away from his hands. It was for a brief moment, but Chung saw the person he had been chasing for the first time.

It was a woman. Probably just a bit older than him. She had two beautiful blue eyes that stared at him with a mixture of fear and rage. Her golden locks became undone as the braid of her hair started to unravel from the pull on the hood. The woman was a bit surprised from almost being caught, but she was quick to get to her feet. Backpedaling away from him, she pulled a revolver from her back and immediately opened fire on him. Chung covered behind his cannon, but didn't felt any bullet on it. When he dared to poke his head out, he found that the woman was already gone.

"A blank, huh?" Chung muttered to himself, already starting to worry about what his officer would say, especially after seeing the hole on this shop's roof.

* * *

"Alright, get ready. Put your masks on. And ready your weapons," Aisha ordered. She was already wearing her black mask, making her voice sound somewhat muffled. It was the same design miners used in certain parts of the mine, a simple black leather cloth with a filter made of thin fabric. It wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing. Like she did before, she held the book with the cryptic picture in front of the control panel, and it soon came back to life. The huge gate started to move, letting a blinding light into the room. They had to close their eyes as more light came into the room the more the gate opened.

When the noise from the heavy doors quieted down, they slowly opened their eyes, squinting as they took their first steps onto the surface. What they saw was hard to believe. For a few moments, they just stood there in silence, contemplating the world around them.

Right in front of them stood a huge tree, sitting in the middle of what looked like ruins from the outside part of the refuge. The tree was tall enough to block the sky. The sunlight streamed through its leaves, creating a shiny spectacle of shine and shadows. The buildings around them had been almost entirely reclaimed by nature. Long vines grew on top of them. Only the thicker walls remained, full of square holes where windows must have been centuries ago. Further from the small refuge area was a vast jungle. Countless trees populated the mountain, creating a canopy of green leaves that reached as far as their eyes could see. A large river ran down the mountain, dividing the trees into two sides. And, to this incredible sight, they added soft sounds of birds chirping in the distance. Everything was covered in tiny drops left by the morning dew, creating many small reflections of the sunlight.

They took a look at the sky for the first time in their lives. A huge expansion of blue space, decorated by a few clouds in the distance and overlooked by the sun.

"This is… unexpected," Elsword was the first to talk, his head still looking up.

The surface was not even one bit as they had expected. Going by what they have been told, it was just a barren surface of dust filled with bones and demons. But this place seemed so peaceful that, for one moment, all of them forgot about their quest.

"Do we really need this? I bet the air here is clear with all those trees," Elesis said, already taking her mask off. Aisha tried to stop her, but seeing the red-headed warrior breathe normally was enough to believe her.

The air here was way different than down there. It was colder and fresher, cleaner. It flew in and out of their lungs without leaving a trail of dust. Just breathing in made that long climb worth it.

"Ahem… We still have work to do," Aisha announced.

"What? Are we going to look for the refuge? Look at this, Aisha! We could just move into the surface. Look how many farmable space is over here. And there's a river. And I think I'm hearing some birds. And…" Elsword began, amazed of this huge discovery. He felt like his heart would burst out of his chest at any moment.

"And we don't know anything about it. We should complete our quest first and let the elders decide." Aisha completed his phrase, prompting the boy to stay quiet.

"Maybe she's right. We don't know if these trees have poisonous leaves, for example. Or if there are dangerous creatures out there…"

"Not to mention that there might be demons. I mean, the real demons, those who are stronger than class A…" Elesis added.

"You guys are not fun at all …" Elsword complained. He finally quieted down. They gathered around Aisha, waiting for her to lay out her plan. She was looking through her book. There were lots of information about the surface in her book, but nothing about the trees they were seeing. She finally stopped at what looked like a map.

She mentally compared it with their surroundings. After a while, she started to realize something. The land had changed. They were not huge changes like entire mountains disappearing, more like rivers changing their course or hills swapping with plains. The kind of changes one could expect from centuries of nature at work. It would make the routes on the map harder to follow than she initially thought.

"Is that a rail?" Raven questioned, pointing to the remains of two long iron rails. The wooden sections had disappeared already, leaving the metallic structure to rot under the sun and rain. The elegant dark brown had turned already into a ugly orange bubbly texture. Seeing it, Aisha quickly located it on the map. At least that had not changed.

"Yeah, we should follow it… It will take us to a city… well, its ruins to be precise."

They took a last glance at the closing gate of the refuge as they started their journey. The surface was totally different than what they expected. There was no poisonous gas nor demons. It seemed like this expedition was going to be easier than what they thought. Or at least that is how it looked like for now.

The rails had been placed across the jungle. However, due to many trees growing through them, it was apparent that this place was much different than when it was first constructed. It did not take them long to reach a road. The black asphalt was fragmented everywhere due to the roots growing beneath it. There was a huge board on top of it with barely legible letters that they had to squint hard to read.

"E-Elder City… I think it says." Elesis said, prompting Aisha to check her guide once again.

"Good!" Aisha shouted, relieved. "We are on the right way."

But their optimism did not last long. A few minutes after they started walking, they reached their first obstacle. The road traveled on top of a huge chasm. It had probably been a river before, but now it was a ravine. The bridge that once served to help people cross was in shambles. The road was on the bottom of the ravine, while the pillars and metal cables hung from its structure.

"So, what do we do now?" Elsword questioned.

Trying to cross through the remaining parts of the bridge was much too dangerous, specially for Raven. It could collapse under their weight. Either they go around it, or try to descend the ravine and climb on the other side.

"It's not like we are in a rush, right? Besides, it would be nice to see the landscape," Elesis suggested.

Aisha hesitated a bit. She had already planned a route on her map and changing it last moment was a bit… She checked it again to trace a new route. They could cross where the river used to reach the sea. It was not that far away, and it was probably better considering that they were looking for a route to the entire refuge.

"What… is that?" Elsword suddenly asked, pointing up to the sky. The team looked upwards and, for a second, they were not sure what he was talking about. After a few moments, they finally saw something moving. A black spot was traveling across the clouds. They could not discern its shape from down there, but it was definitely bigger than any kind of bird. They could hear a hum coming from the sky, as if that thing were leaving a trail of sound behind. It quickly made its way to the south, where it disappeared over the mountain top.

"Alright, let's move on and keep your guard up. Don't forget where we are," Aisha commanded, already leading the way.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A new chapter, so fast! I'm amazed that I could write a new one this fast, but here it is! :D**_

_**A big thanks to Exian for helping with proofreading and editing the chapter :3**_

_**Now, enjoy:**_

* * *

After agreeing on taking a detour to find a better route the team finally managed to reach the coast. There, the canyon that used to be a river merged with the sea, making the huge height difference somewhat manageable. But the team was not ready for what they saw here.

A marvelous beach of white sand spread in front of them as far as the eye could see filled with a calm and silence stirred only by the pleasant sound of the waves breaking in the shore, leaving a trail of white foam behind as the water went back into the ocean which was, at this time of the day, painted in a pretty orange tone. They had never seen something like this. For a long while, they stood at the edge of the beach contemplating the landscape.

Their idea about the ocean was way different than this. From what they have been told, the ocean was a huge extension of greenish acid with dark acidic clouds steaming from it. Filled with bones and remains of the civilization. But these crystal clear waters filled with lively fishes were totally the opposite.

"Ahem…" Aisha coughed, trying to get everyone's attention from the landscape "It's getting dark, we should set up camp."

Night inside the refuge was not much different from the day. The sunlight reflected by the Nasod machines went away, but being a secluded space with so many people in it, it was easy for the electric lights to replace the sunlight. The surface however, was completely different.

"We'll make shifts for the guards, and keep the fire lit all night. Dispose of the food waste…" Aisha started sending out orders as she went over the notes in her book. Apparently, it was common for the surface to have nightly predators, looking for sleeping prey. It did not specify how do they look, or what they want to it.

She finally put it away. Night was almost over them. The orange twilight vanished and now the ocean turned into a jet black abyss. The sky, however, changed from light blue to an infinite star mantle. They could easily get as distracted by the night sky as they got with the beach. Except Aisha, who felt something strange.

She turned around, looking at the line of trees siding on the edge of the beach. She could not see it clearly, but she felt that something was lurking. As if a pair of eyes were staring at her. She carefully scanned the trees once and again while everyone else contemplated the stars slowly shine. It was for a brief second, but she finally saw it. A pair of golden eyes in the forest. They glinted for a second when she made eye contact and immediately disappeared in the forest. Aisha took a step forward, but then froze. The forest was pitch black already.

"Is something wrong?" Elesis asked. She noticed Aisha acting strange and went to investigate. Her hand was already reaching for the sword in her back as she followed Aisha's sight into the forest. But after searching for a while, she could not find anything suspicious.

"Aisha?"

"Sorry, I thought I saw something… I'm probably just tired," Aisha apologized. Although she didn't took her eyes away from the line of trees for a few more seconds. Finally convinced that she didn't saw anything there, she joined the rest of the team.

Not far away from them, a small flying machine flew into the open hands of a tall feminine figure. It rested in her hands and started chirping. It's shiny yellow eyes changed colors as it beeped. This bizarre show went on for a while until it finally stopped. From behind this feminine figure, another similar machine flew in.

"That's strange. I wonder if we should try to contact them," she said.

* * *

Aisha had trouble sleeping. She did her best to keep appearances, but truthfully she was as excited as her friends. She could barely contain her enthusiasm, and if there was something keeping her from wildly running around touching, smelling and probably eating everything she found in the surface, was the sense of danger that living in the refuge has engraved in her mind. And in her teammates as well. She was already awake when Elesis pulled her covers, signaling with a tired thumb that it was her turn to get up and watch. She quickly rose to her feet in time to get out of the way of the tired knightess. She dropped herself on top of the bedroll and quickly fell asleep.

The campfire they made was still burning. The night sky was already turning into a pale blue when her shift started. She could not help but glance at the silent tree line once more, only to find nothing but darkness in there. She sighed and reached for her book, quickly looking through its pages but could not find anything related to that in it. She rubbed her face and sighed again. Her entire watch went by without anything to report. The sun finally came out and she woke up her team.

"We should reach Elder today. I already made a route for us in the map, it should go fine," Aisha declared during breakfast. Elsword insisted in trying to catch some fish to eat, but nobody was up to the task. He had a point though, since all the dehydrated food they brought from the refuge paled in comparison to the delicious-looking fishes in the waters.

Without wasting time, they packed up and left. The way ahead went right through the forest. It felt like they already traveled so far away, even though they could still see the round clear in the mountain forest were the entrance to the refuge was. It was still a pretty long way, and one that had been unexplored for years at that. Every step they took into this new forest felt like a huge leap. Every new kind of tree they saw, or colorful bird, or shiny stone felt like a huge discovery. Something that should be documented in the book and brought back to the refuge.

Finally, Elder city was within view. They walked through the entire morning, and after reaching the furthest edge of the forest, they finally stepped out of it and into a wide pasture area. In front of them was what remained of Elder city.

Many tall concrete buildings stretched in an attempt to reach the sky. Some of them were so tall they had to look all the way into the sky to see the tip. However, they were nothing compared to what they looked like in the past. The shiny glass covering the façades, the sleek blue coating that colored the ledges and balconies was gone, replaced by hollow windows and grey, mossy concrete. Some of them were even lacking entire sides, just waiting for time to finally bring them down.

The roads that ran in and out of the city were in a similar ruinous state than the ones they have been walking to get here. They were littered with the remains of cars. Only their rusty metal frames remained now, barely showing the old glory that these streets must have had.

"So, now that we are here, where is the refuge?" Elesis questioned. They weren't as surprised by the city as they were by the nature around it. In their eyes, it was not all that different to the abandoned mines in their refuge.

"We have to cross the city and head into Bethma. It's a dessert, the refuge is supposed to be there," Aisha said, not needing to check the book, having already memorized the path. She wondered if she would find something interested in the husks of these buildings. But her chain of thought was interrupted when they saw something extrange.

They walked across the streets they eventually found a barricade. It was clearly human made. Built with the remains of buildings, it was more a pile of rubble than a wall, but it must have been put there to protect something. What was more interesting, was the fact that it looked like it had been recently built. They slowly approached it, wondering who would build something here or, more importantly, if there were people living in this city. But their search was interrupted when they heard the characteristic sound of a shotgun being pumped.

They immediately turned around, weapons already in hand, to find themselves surrounded by a group off men with bizarre armor. It was a huge frame made of bulky round metal that covered almost every inch of their skin. So huge that it made them look like taller than any person they could imagine. Thick bolts lined on the edges of the armors, putting the entire thing together. A metal mask covered their faces. Its shape barely remembered that of a human. Two glass beads allowed the person inside to see with a small bored plate letting them breathe and talk. Although, when they spoke, their voices sounded weird. As if they were speaking through some kind of radio.

"Halt demons!" One of them shouted, pointing his gun at them. Although they looked like shotguns, they had been heavily modified. A bigger handle to allow the big metal gloves they used to grasp the trigger and a custom made loading chamber that used long sharp stakes instead of cartridges.

"Demons? What are you talking about," Elesis said. She pointed her sword at the one talking, internally cursing herself, amazed at the fact that none of them noticed a group of heavily armored guys approaching them. They were so absorbed by the wall that they forgot, once again, this was not their refuge.

"Demons wearing a human face! Let's burn them in the name of the one true goddess!" Another one yelled, already training a shot at them.

"Wait!"

They lowered their weapons, slowly making room for someone to join them. It was another armored man with a scarlet red painted armor, and on his back hung the pole of a banner with the symbol of the El Lady. To his side, a relatively short guy, wore a lighter version of the armors. Some metal plates replaced with a lighter mail and his mask not fully covering his face but only his cheeks. He was a young boy, with glasses and a somewhat innocent look in his eyes. He hid as best as he could behind the taller one as the two of them approached.

"General Lento! We found this group of demons trying to sneak in!" The man who first shouted at them spoke.

Lento took a look at the group and then glanced at the small guy next to him "What do you think Allegro?"

They noticed now that this _Allegro_ boy was carrying a thick book instead of a gun. He open it and slowly took some steps towards the group. As he did, the covers of the book illuminated, it pages turning into different colors: blue, red, white… until one finally turned into dark purple. Allegro ran behind Lento and pointed at Aisha.

"That one,"

"I'm not a demon!" Aisha complained. She recognized what the book was. Some scouts in the refuge use similar gadgets to spot the demon auras through walls. Not every mage was able to do it on their own, unlike her; but they were also not fully reliable. As all they did was show what El aspect the subject is best attuned with.

"I know," Lento said. He motioned to his soldiers. They finally put away their weapons and slowly went back to their duties. He them signaled for the astonished group to follow them.

They followed him, the wall they improvised extended along a wide area inside the city. On the other side, they found a camp where many more of these soldiers were currently training. Lento walked with Allegro at his side into the biggest tent in there. One adorned with the banner of the El Lady: A white and cyan flower like symbol with white lines beneath it.

"So, are you going to explain or what?" Raven said, once they were inside. The tent was mostly empty. There was a map laying on top of a table. A self full of weapons and spare armor parts and two thin beds. Lento finally removed his helmet, revealing a young human face beneath. Dark skin and black hair, a scar crossing his face over the nose side to side and deep brown eyes. He looked somewhat handsome and, without the helmet, his voice was much warmer, giving off the feeling of a confident leader.

"I won't apologize for our behaviour until you answer me some questions," He started to say. Allegro also removed his helmet, placing it next to his bed; and sat on it, looking at the group with a glint of curiosity on his eyes "Where do you come from?"

"From the refuge," Aisha started to say, both Allegro and Lento looked at her with a confused look "The one that is in… Ruben, I think it was called during ancient times."

"Ruben… it's been thousands of years since that name was forgotten…" Lento said, looking at Allegro. He finally joined them around the table.

"Ruben used to be a tourist small town, famous worldwide for their healing hot springs and the adventurer guild," Allegro explained, his explanation sounded like a memorized speech "That of course changed after the Catastrophe."

"The Catastrophe?" Aisha questioned.

"Ruben's refuge was built by the Nasods after it," Allegro continued, ignoring Aisha's question "It's a Life Preserving Refuge model 3, LPR MK3 as the Nasods called it, codenamed Hope. It's self autonomous and with the appropriate management it can keep a small population alive through generations."

"And what were you doing here?" Lento questioned now, raising his hand to stop Allegro's explanation.

"We are scouting the surface to move into a new refuge. Ours is almost depleted of natural resources," Aisha explained now. She leaned over the table. The map in it was different from her book. It seemed that this one was updated to reflect the current state of the land, however the main features remained the same over the centuries. With her finger, she traced the route starting from her refuge to the new one in Bethma, "Here, this is where we want to go."

"Unfortunately, we can't allow you to simply pass through the city until we make sure you're not siding with demons."

"Why would we side with them? We already told you we are humans!" Elsword protested, hitting the table with his fist out of frustration. His sister put her hand on his shoulder, prompting him to calm down, and faced Lento.

"How do you intend to prove that?" She questioned.

"We'll have you run an errand for us,"

"And if we decline?"

"We'll put you in a cell until we can figure it out on our own."

"That doesn't give us much option, doesn't it?" Elesis finally said, shrugging and walking away from the table "Alright, let's hear what you want."

"You have to understand that demon or not, you still trespassed our forbidden enclosure. This is an operational base for the El Legion, no civils allowed." Allegro explained.

"Now, for this little errand, we'll send you to Fluone. An ally of us has been captured by the demons there, and they threatened us to kill them if one of our legionaires is seen around. You'll go in there and get her out of there."

"What? Are you sending us to some kind of demon nest?" Elsword protested.

"Demon nest? I have no idea what you're talking about. Fluone is demon territory now. The humans that live there have merged with the demons, creating a town full of blasphemy and heresy to our goddess!" Lento explained. He pointed the map. North to Velder, in an island of its own, there was a place named Fluone, with a smaller picture of a town under the name Naios.

"But that's way too far away!" Aisha said, noticing that, to reach Naios, they would have to travel through the entire continent.

"We'll give you a ride to Velder, there you'll board a ship and travel there. Alright, will you do it or not?"

* * *

The tavern in the lower ring was as lively as ever. Filled with miners and workers, everyone lined up in the bar to get their morning beer. Among them, a blonde beauty, kind of looking out of place, was eating a veggie plate. She was distracted readying the board in the wall and so she didn't notice a certain someone approaching her.

"You have some nerve, letting yourself be seen just the day after that,"

She quickly turned around to see Chung. He was not wearing his uniform, but rather some casual outfit made of a blue shirt and linen pants. He quickly raised his hand, prompting her to stay quiet "Don't make a scene, I'm here to talk with you,"

He took the chair next to her and ordered his own beer. Once it arrived, he lazily made it swirl in the glass before sipping it. "Do you realize what will happen to you once you get caught right?"

Despite the different kinds of people living in the refuge, they all ultimately worked for their own survival. Which meant that something like stealing someone else's property was a crime comparable to assassination. The only punishment was the death sentence. Worse than that, rather than killing these criminals, the authorities decided it would be more useful to use them as bait for demon raids. Even the death of criminals was put to good use down here.

"Why did you do it? What did you take anyways?"

"I only took what was mine from the beginning…" She answered, not looking at him directly.

"First of all, what your name? And what do you mean by that?"

"Rose," she said. Rose pulled a beautiful gold necklace from her pocket. A heart shaped jewel hung from it, with a picture of a young girl in it "This was a gift from my friend."

"And if it was yours, how did you end up stealing it?"

Rose sighed, reluctant to speak to this cop. Chung noticed her uneasiness, and decided to add a "I'm just trying to keep you from being hanged" to his question.

"It's a long story," Rose warned.

"I have time."

She finished the food in her plate and eyed the beer that Chung barely touched. He took the hint and ordered another for her. Once her drink was in her hands, she started talking.

"My father died in the mines during a demon assault. I was alone, and the authorities sent me to the orphanage. There I met her. She didn't have a name, and they didn't bother giving her one, after one she had little time left. Something genetic they said, died being only 10…"

She made a pause, sipping on her beard. Just to make sure Chung was listening and not making fun of it.

"She gave me the necklace. I was training to be a warrior. I wanted to be in the mines protecting people from the demons and stuff but… when I was called to do my tests, one of the nobles from the high rings got an interest in me. He said that it was a waste to turn me into a soldier or whatever so he…" Rose made another pause, the painful memory was visibly taking a toll on her "He bought me to the orphanage manager. The freaking bastard didn't even had a second thought on it, he just accepted whatever money they offered and sent me to live with that bastard."

Chung knew of that kind of practice. It was not exactly legal, but there was not a law against it. Slavery was forbidden down here, but that did not impede the nobles up there to want to own people as _pets_.

"My necklace and what few things I had were sold and I was sent to live in a manor. I had to endure all kind of humiliations. Wearing beautiful dresses to be paraded in front of other nobles as if I were some kind of trainel animal. Dancing to entertain the guy who called himself my _owner_. Endure his abuse… When I turned eighteen I escaped. He tried to get me back, well, still tries now a days…"

"So, you're saying this necklace was sold to someone by the orphanage, right?" Chung said once she finished. The story surely was moving, but it had little to do with the crime here. Chung really despised that kind of thing. Buying humans as toys. But he still had a duty and some laws to uphold "Unfortunately, the person you stole the necklace from doesn't have anything to do with it. They bought the necklace from their legal owner, since you were too young back then."

Rose looked at him with stern eyes, ready to take her gun at any moment and make a run for it.

"But I won't ask you to give it back since it means so much for you. Instead, how about you help me out and I pay it for you?"

"Help you? With what?" Rose said, not fully convinced, and not even trusting his words.

"Word has been spread, there's a gang planning to assault a manor on the higher rings and make a run for it to the surface. Ever since the scouts went up there, all kinds of people keep fantasizing with that stuff. Since you're a thief, I'm sure you know something,"

"I work alone. And I'm not a thief, I already told you,"

"Yeah, yeah. You're also going to tell me that you made those guns by yourself?"

* * *

Aisha sneezed. The vehicle they were riding into Velder picked up so many dust that it was almost impossible to keep the eyes open in it. A pick up truck that the legionnaires took from the streets. They just recycled the remains of the metal chase of one, covering it with as many metal plates they could to give it some armor and attaching some wheels and an engine. It was almost a miracle that it still worked. Two legionnaires were in the front, while the team rode on the back, accompanied by Allegro.

"I have to say," Aisha started to speak. The silence in the back was already becoming awkward, and the small Allegro was the only person you could actually try to talk without feeling threatened "I was surprised to find other humans on the surface,"

"Not everyone went into the refuges during the Catastrophe, some stood outside, either because they didn't make it in time, or just because it was too expensive for them."

"I didn't knew it costed money for people to get in the refuges…"

"It didn't. But there was people out there ready to take advantage of the scared people."

The car made a jump. The road they were traveling across disappeared and now a huge extension of sand spread in all directions. Tall dunes and orange stone was all they could see over the thick dust cloud the wheels kicked up as they traveled.

"Bethma dessert," Allegro announced "If you end up here without a ride you're dead. Take a look there,"

Their eyes followed the direction he was pointing and saw something familiar. A small enclosure in the middle of the sands with rusty rails and ruined buildings surrounding a big metal door. It must be Bethma refuge, the place they were supposed to get to in the first place.

"And this El Legion you are in… what's so special about it?" Elesis questioned looking back at Allegro.

"It makes sense you don't know about us, considering that you have been inside that refuge since you were born. It's a long story though…"

"We have time," Aisha said, joining in the conversation. Elsword and Raven didn't seem interested in the Legion's history. Elsword was laying on the back of the truck, with his legs hanging outside the ledge and staring into the distance, amazed by how precariously the stone and rocks in Bethma kept balance one on top of another, while Raven was more trying to take a nap.

"As you may already know, the Catastrophe was originally meant to destroy all demons attacking humanity, right?" Allegro started to say, looking at his two expectators and getting a couple of nods in response "And as you know, it didn't went well. The surface was turned into a barren world. And demons weren't exterminated, they still managed to survive and keep profaning the goddess lands. Our ancestors lacked the power to fight them, until…"

Allegro stopped. He glanced over the two boys in the back of the truck and signaled them to get closer. Elsword did, but Raven was still too uninterested in the story to join them.

"One of our ancestors was visited by the goddess herself. She gave him the power to fight demons. He started the Legion. The first legionnaire. His name is long forgotten, but his deeds remain true today. Ever since them the legion has been fighting against demons everywhere."

"But, where do you come from? Do you all live here in the surface?" Aisha questioned. The idea of humans living on the surface ever since the Catastrophe boggled her mind.

"More or less. We have our central base in Velder, and there is a huge bunker there that allowed us to survive. Our families and our younger members are there."

"Look out!"

The team was startled by the shout from one of the drivers. The car stopped so suddenly that they couldn't help but roll in the back, hitting the driver's seat. They tried to get off, but Allegro stopped them.

"Don't step on the sand!" He said, taking out his weapon. The driver and the other legionnaire climbed on top of the truck and started scanning their surroundings. Aisha did the same. At first she wasn't sure what was going on, but then she saw something moving. The sands were shifting, and for a brief moment she saw something similar to a fin poking out of the dunes, along with a huge black mass. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her magic. The darkness surrounding her started to fade as everything slowly came up to her. Her senses being nullified, replaced by her magic scanning. Like a bat flying in the night, she saw a pulse of her own dark aura being spread all across the desert, and something colliding with it, sending it back. It was a large creature sneaking under the sands. She wasn't sure if it was a demon, but it was way bigger than a Class C.

With a flicker of her fingers, her wand was magically summoned to her hands. Following suit, her teammates drawn their swords and prepared to fight the unknown enemy. The moving sands started to get closer to the car. When they were a few meters away, the sand stopped for a brief moment before suddenly blasting up in the air. Aisha was able to see the large maw of the demon. It was similar to a black crocodile, with a threatening line of huge teeth poking out of it. The creature was engulfed by the dust as it jumped in the air. The driver was the first one to fire at it. His shotgun roared as the large stake was shot at the monster's belly. It lodged itself in its skin, making a large spurt of blood spray the car below, but the creature didn't seem to care as it came crashing on the car.

"Don't move!" Allegro shouted. He quickly opened his book. Its pages started to shift on their own as he chanted a spell. Purple chains emerged from the book and strapped themselves around the creature, stopping it on the air "Fire!"

Allegro and both legionnaires took the chance to unload their guns against the monster. The stakes traveling through the dust cloud managed to clear it before stabbing the demon. Without the dust, they could see it clearly. A huge beast with the body of a fish and the maw of a crocodile. It's skin was jet black and covered in thick scales. Once the stakes hit them, the scales would be shed and replaced by new ones. Despite the bullets bouncing off its body, the monster started to cry in a struggle. His bindings could break at any moment.

The driver quickly jumped back in his seat and smashed the gas pedal. The pick-up quickly got moving again, just in time to avoid being crushed by the monster as the chains finally disappeared. Allegro and his other legionnaires started shooting from the back. Even though they were going at top speed, the demon had little trouble following them, moving through the sand as if it were swimming in water. It's opened maw pushed aside the sand, showing its huge fangs to its prey.

Aisha pointed her fingers at it, shaping her hand like a gun. She closed her eyes for a moment to concentrate. A surge of energy tickled her as her powers concentrated on the tip of her fingers. She opened her eyes, making eye contact with the beast following them. Its rabid yellow eyes looked back at her filled with rage. Finally, a purple ray of energy shooted out of her fingers. It traveled at light speed and struck the demon in its nose. It took the laser few seconds to go through the scales, making the monster yell in pain and jump out of her way.

"I don't know what you did," Allegro said to her, "But I need you to do it again!"

He quickly moved to the side of the pick-up. The monster was now sailing in the sand next to them, closing the distance pretty fast.

"Again?", Aisha thought to herself. It has been long since the last time she used magic in battle, and she was pretty rusty. Just getting that one bit of energy out was pretty tiring, to repeat it immediately…

She didn't had time to think about it though, as the monster slammed itself against the truck. It spun out of control, making Aisha trip and fell off. A hand quickly flew to held her, but it only managed to fell out the truck with the mage. Elsword was the one who tried to help her. Both of them rolled on the sands before coming to a stop, seeing how the monster abandoned the chase on the truck and was now turning to them. Elsword quickly rose to his feet, swinging his sword as flames started to cover it. He jumped in the air and vigorously shook his blade, sending a fireball directly at the demon. It exploded on contact, creating a cloud of fire and black smoke. The demon seemed to have dove just before, as the sands stopped moving all of the sudden. Aisha used her magic detection again to find the creature. She saw its malevolent aura move right beneath her. She was fast to react. The teleportation spell that she knew by heart came on its own to her lips and she blinked out of the monster's maw just before it closed on her.

She felt adrenaline rushing through her blood. The demon did not dive back, instead it landed on the ground and started running at her. Aisha, on the other side, remained calm. She moved her body with a memorized flow. Her fingers pointing at the beast, her ears ignoring Elsword shouts to get some cover. The purple light formed again in her fingers, but this time it was more than one of these deadly lasers. She opened her eyes, many streams of purple light erupted from her hands. They traveled straight at the beast, piercing its scales. The monster kept charging at them, until one of the laser, either by chance or skill, went through the demon's eyes, blasting away its brains. It collapsed, sliding in the sand until it fully stopped, letting out a grave growl as life vanished from it.

"You did it!" Elsword shouted.

But the happy victory did not last long for Aisha, as she suddenly felt her body being incredibly heavy. She stumbled and almost fell, being caught by Elsword just in time. Her eyes slowly closed and she shifted into the dream world, seeing the truck turning around to pick them up just before she finally fell asleep.

* * *

**_A quick note: If you don't know about Fluone or Naios: Fluone is the region where Ara cames from, it's basically like middle-age Japan, and Naios is the Spanish name for that, although in this story it will be just a town in that region :3_**

**_Next chapter will most likely take more time since I'll be updating my other fic. You should read it if you like NepNep ;)_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**I want to thank Akina and Exian for their help with proofreading and editing this chapter. Thank you girls 3**_

* * *

Bethma used to be the biggest desert in Elrios, but even though some wastelands were now even bigger, the place was still breathtakingly huge. The heat was unbearable, and, without the appropriate measures, it could even be deadly. Unfortunately, during her fight against the sand demon, Aisha didn't think about it. The adrenaline rush suppressed the sensation of heat from her head, but, once the battle ended, the overheat suddenly hit her, and she fell unconscious.

Aisha spent around an hour swaying between being asleep and awake. She could hear the truck humming as if it was really far away from her. Elsword was fanning her, and she could see Elesis standing next to her. Her red hair blocked the sun and casted a shadow over her face. When Aisha looked at her, Elesis made a sweet smile as she said something, but Aisha couldn't quite hear it. She was feeling awful. She was feeling so bad that she was afraid she would puke on whoever was cradling her. The more she recovered consciousness, the dizzier she felt. She looked around and saw Allegro and Raven on the lookout, watching the sands around them. Aisha realized that she was resting on Elesis' lap and started to feel anxious about it. But when she tried to stand up, Elesis grabbed her by the shoulder and put her down again, saying something that Aisha still wasn't able to hear yet.

She tried to look away from her, just in case, and it was then that she saw something strange. In the distance, on top of one from the many tall, rocky mountains, she saw a white figure. Aisha thought that the light was playing a trick on her, but as her vision stopped being blurred, she could clearly see a human-like figure dressed in white clothes staring at them. A cape fluttered behind the stranger.

"Aisha!"

The mage jolted and looked back at Elesis. For a brief second, Elesis seemed a bit upset, but she relaxed her face and asked if she was feeling better. Without realizing, Aisha was already back to normal. She was still a bit dizzy, and the nausea wasn't completely gone, but her ears were working again, and she was able to get up from the lap pillow without stumbling.

"You gave us a scare there," Elsword said, finally putting down the improvised fan, which was just his shirt. It seemed like all of the fanning made him feel hot himself. The moment he put the shirt back on, it became stained with sweat.

"Yeah, we thought your brain melted or something. You kept staring into the distance without saying anything, even while I was calling you," Elesis explained. Aisha scratched her head in embarrassment.

"Oh, I was looking at them…" she said, pointing at the mountain, but as she did, she saw nothing in there. The white figure had disappeared without a trace. She nervously checked the rest of the mountains but couldn't see anyone on them. Looking at her teammates, who were now staring in the direction she pointed at, she worried that her brain had actually melted.

"It was probably a mirage," Allegro suddenly said, garnering everyone's attention for a moment. "They are common in the desert. The light, the heat, and the exhaustion can cause hallucinations. People would often believe they see something that they don't."

"I never heard of something like that… This place is quite dangerous, I must say. How long until we arrive at the city?" Raven questioned. He didn't drop his guard on the sands. Thinking about more demons hiding under the sands put them in high alert, even if Allegro said that seeing that kind of demon was truly a rare encounter.

"We have to cross the glass crater, and then we'll be there," Allegro answered. When they looked at him with a confused look, he simply pointed at the front. As the truck passed another sand dune, they saw something huge on the other side. As Allegro said, it was a crater, and it was completely covered in glass. It wasn't as smooth as one expected glass to be, though. It appeared to have been morphed by the explosion that caused it. Rifts and sharp deformations were scattered here and there, contributing to the lack of logic this place had. And, to make it worse, it was pitch black. Despite being under the intense desert sun, the surface of the crater seemed to absorb that light, resulting in a dark and shadowy hole. At least they could see the ruins of the city on the other side.

"This glass formed on the day of the calamity. This was all part of Bethma before, but the explosion here was so intense that it turned the sand into glass."

"Oh right, you were about to tell us about that when that demon attacked."

Allegro sat back. He opened his book and searched through the many notes he had attached to the pages.

"You know what the Calamity is, right?"

"Yeah," Elesis was the first one to answer. "But not the full detail of it. All we know is that it was some kind of disaster that forced humanity to retreat into the refuges."

"Well, the Nasod happened," Allegro stated. Everyone was focused on him now, intrigued by what that meant. He finally found the page he was looking for. Despite being a book that he used for magic, it appears that he had been attaching more and more stuff into it over the years. While it had nice leather covers with little shiny gems set on different patterns, the insides of it was a mess of old worn down paper and thousands upon thousands of notes on them.

"Before the Calamity, humans were at war with the demons, that part you already know. Humans weren't doing good, and things were looking pretty grim. One day, all of the sudden, the Nasod arrived. They appeared out of nowhere with their giant flying island. Dressed in white robes and having large white feathered wings, everyone thought they were angels sent by the El Lady herself to save humanity. I don't know if they are angels, but they did save humanity."

"The Nasod sided with the humans against the demons," Allegro continued as he kept checking his facts on the book, moving from one note to another each time he turned the page. "And for the first time, the demons were at a disadvantage. So much so that they resorted to trickery. Disguised as humans, the demons infiltrated Altera, the Nasod's homeland, and became closer to their King, a giant Nasod named Adam."

"Did the demons try to convert the Nasod to their side?" Elsword questioned. He had never been interested in history before, but at this point, he felt like he needed to know.

"No, they did something worse. They took the power source from King Nasod. Apparently, most Nasods need a connection with the King to function. When he was down, so were most of humanity's allies. Demons went on the offensive once more, and this time, it looked like humanity was done for good. But then, that happened."

Allegro pointed at the center of the glass crater. The party stared at it in confusion.

"The Nasod were so angry with the demons that they decided to wipe them off. They didn't care at all about the humans anymore," Allegro continued, "This is not the only huge crater you'll find around the world. They were made by Nuclear weapons, bombs created by the Nasods. Their power was so strong that they destroyed the entire world."

"Wait, do you mean that the world ended because of some bombs?" Raven questioned incredulously "I've seem big explosions before when we had to open new mine sections but what you're saying is far beyond that."

"There aren't many records, but apparently, the Nasod had a huge amount of these bombs. And just one of them is enough to make this." Allegro spread his arms around, emphasizing on the glass crater they were driving through now.

"But… that doesn't make any sense," Aisha replied, "The Nasods built our refuge and many others, and they protected humanity after the Calamity. It says so in our records."

"As I said, this is all passed down knowledge. There's no way to know what the truth is until we uncover it."

Their truck finally reached the other side of the crater. Finally, they moved from the sands into an asphalt road. It was a huge one that led into Velder's main avenue. This city was as ruinous as Elder, but it was obvious that it was inhabited. All of the debris, broken glasses, rusted cars, and other trash that could be found lying around in Elder had been cleaned here. Although the buildings were in a bad state, enough to make them unusable, the Legion had taken over the lowest floors, turning shopfronts and small houses into security posts and barricades. Electricity had been restored throughout the city, and the group could see the Legionnaires using it to power a huge grid of floodlights that kept the street as bright as the sun could. The security outposts not only had a group of legionnaires keeping guard at all times but also were equipped with ancient technology capable of identifying any intruder in mere seconds and rang the alarm.

They crossed many checkups on their way to the city center. At each checkpoint, the truck would have to stop in front of a barrier and have the Legionnaires inspect it. They looked everywhere: the wheels, the engine, and even the fuel tank for anything suspicious.

"You don't get many visits, do you?" Aisha wondered once they went through the eleventh examination. "This amount of security would be really impractical if you were to have more than one guest per month."

"We never get visits, not like there's anyone out there to visit us. But we are constantly moving our troops, and security is important where we are going," Allegro answered. He pointed at the front, and they could see the end of the road. The main avenue converged with many other roads into a single, large plaza. It was an strange oasis in the middle of all of these concrete buildings. Green grass and tall trees grew around a decently sized lake. In the middle of the lake, they saw a metallic building. It was oddly eerie, having gray walls and absolutely no windows or any other accident other than a giant metal door on one side. Around the lake, mixed with the trees, there were many buildings that looked quite new. Thousands of Legionnaires surrounded the place, constantly going in and out of the area.

This was, without a doubt, their headquarters. The truck finally stopped, and they were greeted by a large group of Legionnaires dressed in a red version of their metal super armor.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant Allegro," The man in the middle of the greeting team said, approaching the young boy. He was taller than any other Legionnaire, and he wasn't wearing any kind of super armor. Instead, he had an old looking metal chestplate with a golden crest on it. A red cape and white clothes to cover the rest of his body, this man held his face high and exuded a dignified aura. Unlike the other soldiers, he didn't carry any weapon other than a longsword.

"Commander Penensio," Allegro answered, striking the official Legionnaire salute pose along with the rest of the present soldiers.

"At ease, soldier. What do we have here?" Penensio questioned, glancing over the four strangers that just got out of the truck.

"Refuge dwellers, sir. The natural resources around their refuge are exhausted and they decided to scout for a new refuge to move in. General Lento decided they could help us with… that."

"Oh. I see."

Penensio and Allegro separated from the group and headed to a tightly secured building in the plaza. The team was left alone standing there, unsure of what to do. They saw all the Legionnaires surrounding them, and it felt like nobody really cared about them.

"So, what do we do now?" Elsword was the first to ask. His teammates just shrugged. Seeing their confusion, one of the Legionnaires approached them and announced with his amplified voice that they could rest until they were done talking.

* * *

"Rose, are you in position?"

"Give me a moment."

It was pretty early in the morning, and Rose was already in a pickle. Ever since Chung uncovered her little theft, Rose was offered a chance to collaborate with the police forces. Chung himself created a new team to _investigate_ the higher rings of the refuge. Normally, such requests would be ignored, but considering the increasing crimes that had been happening in that area, the wealthy people had started to grow worried. Hiding Rose's past and using her knowledge to expose those alleged rumors of slavery was the next step of his plan.

Chung was tired of working on the mines. It was dangerous and depressing at the same time. The dust-filled faces of the workers on their home after seeing some nasty stuff on the mine was an image that was burned into his head pretty quick. Security guards either grew dull to it, or they started developing what the veterans call _bourgeoise syndrome _because they could no longer look at poor people's faces. Whatever the reason was, Chung finally had an excuse to leave that behind and work on something else.

"Alright, give us a signal once you get there."

Rose had to squirm through the ventilation duct that connected the street with the gaudy manor she was breaking into. Although Chung's new team was there to protect the high classes from burglars, he also started investigating some of the secret affairs of the nobles. Starting from the man that kept Rose captive from all of her youth, they decided to break into his house while a long-awaited opera was playing in the local theater.

"Damn, I like to boast of my figure, but this is really pushing it far…" Rose complained to herself as she managed to drag herself through the narrow corners of the duct. She couldn't hear anything other than the sound of her legs kicking the tunnel. Even if she was sure that guy must be hiding something in the house, they still needed some kind of proof. She finally reached a ventilation rack and was able to take a look. She was above the main living room. If the memory served her right, the living quarters had to be just a few meters ahead.

"Get out of the ventilation ducts before you get stuck. You can proceed from the inside now," Chung ordered through the radio.

He was outside the manor with two police officers. They all wore casual clothes in order to blend in. It was quite a hard task when their linen colorless clothing were compared with the obstentous blues and reds of the frill-overloaded velvety clothes of the higher class nobles. But at least they could double as servants, which was good since nobody would approach them.

Getting rid of the ventilation rack from the little space Rose was in proved to be quite hard. When she managed to get it loose, it fell on the ground with a loud noise. She quickly jumped out of the duct and placed it back in place. Nobody seemed to have heard it, but she still decided to move with caution and try her best to stay hidden. Not like it was hard to hide in there. The main living room was full of furniture, to a point where she asked herself if they ever used any of it.

A large set of seats and coffee table occupied the center of the room. On one side was a large collection of books set around an earth globe that supposedly represented how the world above looked. Lining with the books, many shelves had a wide repertory of collectible items. There wasn't a theme in particular. She found rare gems, insects, stamps, jewelry… Rose even thought that they were all stolen goods from the people the lord was bringing home. And in the other corner of the room, she found a piano. It wasn't there when she was here last time, but she used it to hide. After a short wait, she finally convinced herself that nobody was coming to investigate the sound and ventured further in the house.

Rose knew the house well. After the time she spent here she has been planning her revenge. Although her idea of revenge was more ruthless than uncovering this man, it was still an act of revenge. She headed straight for the second floor. A hallway, filled with doors on each side, greeted her. It was completely different from the rest of the house. The luxurious carpets and blinds weren't present here. The colors around this hallway seemed to have been drained and an ominous presence loomed over the place. You could see scratches on the doors and on some parts of the floor, probably from the rats, or from the girls that didn't want to be here. Who knows.

Rose had to take a deep breath before venturing into the hallway. She reassured the connection with Chung and the rest of the police outside and started checking on the rooms.

All of the rooms were mostly empty. A bed and a chair were the only thing to be found in them. The luxurious façade that this house put up crumbled when seeing all of these empty rooms. Sometimes, not even a bed would be present. There was just a mattress on the ground, full of stains and close to falling apart. Rose remembered her routine when she was here. She would wake up early in the morning, and the maids would get her dressed up to parade in front of the other nobles. They had these events where they would compete to see who had the better _dolls_. And that wasn't all of it. Not only did she have to live in horrible conditions, but also being fed poorly and endure whatever absurd request the noble would have that day for his entertainment.

After examining all the other rooms, Rose finally stood in front of the last door. She noticed a ray of light coming from beneath it and gently pushed it open. The room was empty, but a particular smell caught her attention. The smell of mold and rotten food. It was the kind of smell these rooms used to get when the captives would be forced to stay isolated in there for too long. Rose stepped in and scanned the room, since the light was lit it was only logical that someone was hiding here. Being the bed the only possible place to stay hidden, she quietly kneeled next to it.

There was a girl there. Despite the darkness under the bed Rose could see that she was pretty young and had beautiful pink hair. Dressed in a black dress, she stared at Rose with frightened eyes like a defenseless cub before a hungry predator. The girl tried to crawl away from Rose, and she bumped into the wall behind her.

"Rose!" Chung suddenly called through the radio. "We need you here now! We just saw the thieves gang!"

Rose had forgotten. Their original plan here was not to break into this noble's house, but to prevent others from stealing other manors. The only reason they decided to do this was because she wouldn't stop complaining about it and threatened to tell people in the lower rings that the police were allowing this kind of thing to happen.

"Give me a moment. I found a hostage," Rose shouted through the radio. She ducked and tried to reach out to the little girl. "Come with me. I won't harm you."

But the girl was too afraid to take on the offer. She looked at the hand as if it were some kind of weapon, and once Rose got too close, she immediately bit her. Rose had to shake her hand free. The bite was strong enough to draw some blood.

"That wasn't pretty nice… Come on, I'll get you out of here," Rose said, trying to lure her out again. Seeing how the girl preferred to hide, she reached for her pocket and took out her snack for today, a chocolate bar that she took from the police office without anyone noticing. She peeled from the envelope and showed it to the scared girl. "You want this? I can get you more if you come with me."

The girl snatched the bar from her hands so fast that Rose thought that she would bite her hand again. The bar was gone in an instant, and now the girl was staring at her, but her eyes were a bit different.

"I told you, you'll have to come out if you want more."

"Who the hell are you?!"

Rose jumped away from the bed, looking for the door. Chung must have moved from his position due to the thieves showing up, and now someone had entered the house. But this could only mean...

When she turned around, she saw the nobleman that used to torment her. He was a really fat man with a horrible moustache and goatee that didn't match his balding hair. As always, he was carrying a tissue to wipe off the sweat that he produced just by breathing. He was wearing his mismatched red and green striped clothes covered in so many jewels that it was a miracle he could even lift them.

He was the person Rose never expected to face again and the one she least wanted to see. She didn't know how she would react after seeing him again, even when she decided to break into his house. Fear, anger, hate… anything could happen. As the man looked at her with surprised eyes, still amazed by the daring thing the girl did, Rose was trying to process what was going on.

This was the person that kept her captive after buying her from an orphanage. And now, he was doing the same thing to this other poor girl who became so scared that she would rather hide under a bed than accept help. The memories, the facts and the current situation suddenly boiled down to her head, mudding Rose's mind for a second. Enough for her to grab her gun and train it at the noble.

Someone else entered the room. Seeing the gun, a young man stepped between the two, pushing the noble out of the way. Unfortunately, Rose didn't stop herself from pulling the trigger. A single bullet came out, and she knew that, with the small distance between her and her target, it won't miss. The young man was hit in the chest, and he immediately fell to the ground. His heart was pierced, and he was now fighting for his last breath.

"My son!" The noble shouted, running as fast as his short fat legs allowed him as he kneeled down next to the dead man. Rose couldn't process what just happened. She wasn't thinking anymore. Her gun was once again trained at the noble in front of her. He looked at Rose with his dead child on his hands in uncharacteristic silence.

"Rose! What happened!? I heard gunshots!" Chung shouted through the radio. The shrieking high pitched sound of the radio was enough to knock some sense back into Rose. She kicked the bed, flipping it over and startling the girl hiding under it. Rose didn't give her time to do anything as she grabbed the small child and dragged her out of the room. Stealth was no longer an option. Rose was seen by many maids and a group of guests on her way out. She tried her best to keep the little girl with her as she made her way through the servants, who were on their way to investigate.

They finally got out of the manor. Chung was at the door, signaling for Rose to hurry up. The other officers weren't with him. They ran across the street into a different house. The fence around it was broken, and they stepped into a lawn with a small cabin made to store gardening tools. It would serve as a hiding spot for now.

"What the hell happened in there? Shit, I shouldn't have left the watching spot…" Chung yelled, messing up his hair in a frustrated gesture.

"I killed his son."

The young officer looked at Rose, not sure if she was joking or not. Seeing him so confused, Rose decided to elaborate on it.

"His son was born before the noble separated from his mother. He never approved of his father's devious tastes, but being too young to do anything about it, he could just watch and help from the shadows. Sometimes, he would sneak into my room to bring me things to eat, or clean clothes…" Rose explained. She finally let go of the girl's hand and sat with her face hidden between her knees. "I couldn't control myself when I saw that man. I wanted to shoot him, but the kid pushed him out of the way and got hit in his place. He's dead...and I killed him."

Though she looked calm, Rose was crying on the inside. The only person in that place that would help her was killed by her own hands. It was too much. It felt like a nightmare. Chung pressed his eyes, trying to let that sink in. He took a deep breath and finally spoke. His next words were almost dismissive of Rose's current emotional state.

"Who's this girl?"


	5. Chapter 5

_**It's been a long time since I last updated this fic. I'm sorry, but here is the next chapter. This chapter had been written by Kotori as part of our Secret Santa exchange organized on our discord server, so enjoy it :3**_

* * *

Rose turned her attention to the girl who is still standing behind her. She was so quiet during the conversation that Rose almost forgot that she was even there. The girl had a frightened look in her eyes, slightly shaking from the entire ordeal.

"I found her while investigating the rooms. She's a captive, just like me in the past. I thought I could use her as proof to expose that man's crimes…" Rose explained.

Chung shook his head in disapproval. "Great. Not only you've murdered someone, but you've kidnapped a child. Just great..." he gritted his teeth. Still ridden with anguish, Rose couldn't bring herself to say anything back. A cold silence fell between them. During all his time as an officer, Chung never felt so stressed in his life until now. He should never have let Rose joined the mission, let alone abandoned his watching post. What should he do now?

Just then, they heard voices in the distant, which prompt them to hide behind the tool shed. News of noble's son's death had spread quickly, alerting more enforcers to arrive on the case.

"The culprit was reported to be a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. If you find anyone who even remotely match these descriptions, take them in as a suspect!" one of them said.

"Yes, sir!"

The tension thickens when an officer slowly walked toward their direction. Rose reached for her gun, ready to defend for their lives the moment he sees them. However, Chung puts his hand on her weapon, assuring her not to shoot. He then went out into the open to face the officer.

"Seiker? What the hell are you doing here?" the officer shouted. "I thought you were dealing with the thieves gang at the manor!"

"Sorry, but I saw a thief ran out with stolen treasures in hand. I couldn't just let her escape, so I pursued her." Chung explained. He could bite his tongue right now for lying because he despises it, but it's the only way. "I saw her running that way." He pointed in the opposite direction.

"Does the thief happens to be blonde with blue eyes?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Well, keep your eyes out. That thief just so happened to have murdered a nobleman's son. If you see her again, you know what to do."

"Yes, sir."

After the officer walked away, Chung let out a sigh of relief. He can't believe that actually worked. Rose and Laby stepped out from behind the shed, the former looking slightly confused. "Why...why would you-"

"I'm not doing this for you." the boy clarified, sharply. "I'm only helping because I feel guilty about what happened. If I didn't do it, the girl would probably be sent back to the noble and I can't let that happen."

"Hm…" Rose doesn't like his attitude, but she understood his good intentions. "You're free to think whatever you want. For now, let's hurry and find another place to hide before they return," she suggested.

The three ran out of the area while being extremely careful not to get caught by the authorities. Chung brought up the idea of hiding out in the middle ring, however, it was deemed impossible with officers patrolling at nearly every corner. Eventually, they settled in an empty alleyway.

"Damn, they're everywhere," Rose cursed before letting go of the girl's hand. The girl could barely catch her breath from running so much.

"I think we should be good here for now," Chung muttered. He scratched his head. "But seriously, it's like we can't hide anywhere longer than ten minutes..."

While the young officer rambled, Rose thought of an idea. It's insane and risky, but it would guarantee their escape.

But first, she must talk to _her._

She bent down to meet the young girl's face, but the latter refused to look at her directly. Rose felt great sympathy and shame. Not only she reminds the woman of her past self, powerless and afraid, but the son was probably the only person she ever trusted...now gone because of her.

Rose pushed back the feeling.

"Can you tell me your name?" Rose softly asked. There was no response. She then tried reassuring the girl with a smile. A forced smile, but a smile nonetheless. "It's alright now...that man will never hurt you again, I promise. We'll keep you safe."

After a pause, the girl finally spoke if only in a small voice. "...Laby."

"Laby, do you have any relatives?"

The pinkette shook her head.

"Rose, it's likely that she was bought from the orphanage. She wouldn't have a family." Chung stated the obvious.

The woman sighed. "I know that. I just want to make sure we won't be leaving with regrets for what we're about to do."

"What do you mean by that?" Chung raised an eyebrow. Rose returned the look with a dead-serious expression.

"We should go to the surface."

"WHAT-"

The woman cupped his mouth. "Quiet down. Are you trying to alert them?" she whispered, angrily.

Chung pushed her hand away. "Are you crazy? The surface is a dangerous place full of demons. We won't survive there!" he tried to keep his volume as low as possible.

Rose shook her head. "Think about it. There has to be a reason why thieves would be escaping to the surface. I think it'd be our best choice to check for ourselves." she rationalized.

"But…"

Chung bit his lower lip, showing hesitation. The idea of going to the surface honestly _scares_ him. On the contrary...he knows that Rose is right. They can't hide in the refuge forever. Aware that his friends are already at the surface gave Chung some confidence, at the very least.

"Fine…" Chung finally gives in. "I know a hidden passage that is one of the closed mines."

Rose was surprised by the info.

"Well, to be more clear...the mine was not closed for demon attacks, but because the miners found an exit." he further explained, "Fearing what they could see, the higher-ups decided to destroy it by blowing it up and blamed it on a demon attack. It's a secret that is fiercely guarded by refuge security. Only a few people outside the security corp know about it. Except for me."

"...Alright, I will trust you on this. Lead the way." nodded Rose, grabbing onto Laby's hand once again. The young girl had no idea what they were talking about, but her feeling of discomfort has eased a bit.

After dodging officers and multiple close calls, they managed to arrive at the mine located on the outskirts of the lowest ring. True to Chung's words, it was truly an abandoned site as there was no one else in sight. Running with minimal time to rest, they eventually reached the dead-end of the tunnel where rocks and debris blocked the other side.

"Stand back," Chung warned them. He pulled back his cannon's lever and aimed at the barricaded wall. The gears started moving by itself, and water flowed into the detonation chamber. As immense light glowed at the front end, it released a giant blast of energy. The powerful stream pierced right through the layers of rocks, allowing the rest to fall apart and tumble. He fired it a few more times until there was enough opening to pass through.

"Not bad, for a regular cop," complimented Rose. She then stepped inside the gap with Laby.

"Wait!" Chung halted them. "We don't have protective suits or gas masks as the scouts do. Are you sure about going through with this?"

Rose looked back in a cold gaze. "If we die on the surface...so be it. It's better than to suffer any further in the village," she emphasized her words. "I don't care if you turn back. Just don't stop us again."

As the two proceeded, the boy stood behind. He thought to himself. To leave the village would mean leaving his life as an officer forever. Sometimes, Chung wondered why he refused Aisha's offer back then. Does he not share the same passion for adventure as his friends? Or perhaps he's really nothing more than a coward in the end...

"Sei...ker?"

Chung heard a timidly confused voice. He lifts his head and finds Laby looking back. Her wistful gaze sparked something within him.

….

The boy finally made up his mind. If it means to protect someone, then he's not going to turn his back anymore. Not ever again.

"I'm coming too!" he yelled, catching up to them.

Nearly an hour passed and no signs of the surface yet. The tunnel's slope appeared to rise higher the deeper they travel. Not only that, but exhaustion began stressing on their minds and bodies. Chung and Rose offered to carry Laby on their backs, but she refused every time. They soon ended up at another dead end.

"Did they destroyed this path too?" Chung took his cannon out, ready to blast it like he did last time.

"Hold on, something isn't right here," said Rose, looking around. "Noticed how the tunnel passage's been strange recently?"

"Yeah, it's supposed to be tilted. Someone thought that digging upwards would help find valuable minerals. Of course, they dug too far and, well, found an exit."

"No, I'm not talking about the slope. Feel the soil." Rose touched the narrow ceiling above. She rubbed the dirt that fell between her fingers. "It's unusually moist and crumbly. The temperature has risen. The smell is different. It's unlike anything back at the refuge."

Chung bent down and felt the soil. "Yeah, you're right. This must mean..." Right away, he understood the indication. "Say no more, I'm going to fire at the ceiling. Stand back!

He positioned his cannon at a 60-degree angle and blasted a stream of energy. Just as he predicted, the ceiling was only supported by several layers of shallow dirt. What comes next is sunlight shining down from the hole. Chung blasted himself up with his cannon and Rose jumped with Laby in her arms.

Finally, they saw the outside world for the very first time.

The three stood in complete silence, mesmerized by the sight that beholds them. The blue sky above seems to span on forever, with clouds drifting up, blending the sea of greenery that was hard to comprehend. The sweeping breeze which rolls across the vast plains has blown their hair gently. The entire land is covered by vegetation and trees, the sun showing off the beauty of nature in all its perfection. It was unbelievable.

"This is...the surface?" Chung was flabbergasted. For his entire life, he thought the surface was a barren wasteland as told in the books. He wondered if his friends were just as shocked when they eventually came up. Speaking of his friends...

"Oh right, I still need to find them!" he cried suddenly.

Rose looked at him, confused. "Find who?" she asked.

Chung felt slightly embarrassed. "I forgot to tell you this but my friends are scouts and they're already on the surface. Maybe they can help us if we find them!"

"Do you know where they are?"

"N-No, but..."

After a bit of looking around, Chung saw the ruins of a city in the distance. "Let's head there first," he suggested.

* * *

The scout team has now boarded the ship for Naios. This is the very first time they're riding on the ocean, let alone on an enormous device that can float on top of it. As the roaring waves rocked the ship, the two red-headed siblings awed with wonder from the deck.

"After agreeing to a dangerous quest, and you two sure seem to be taking it well," Raven commented, a bit of sarcastic. Although he understands their given situation, he still isn't very happy about it.

"Come on, Raven. Can you really blame us?" Elsword brightened. "I've been itching to see another city outside of the refuge!"

"I'm pretty interested too. We've been through tooth and nail during these past few days, but nothing really bad happened yet." Elesis agreed. She then turned to the mage. "How do you feel about this, Aisha?"

"Huh? O-Oh…" Aisha snapped out of her thoughts. She smiled at them to show her enthusiasm. "I guess I'm kinda excited too. Maybe it'll be a nice place for once."

While her friends continued discussing, Aisha instinctively looked behind her but saw nothing there. She can't help but feel an odd presence observing them during their journey.


End file.
